Zhang Lanxin, RDF International School

Last week, I had an opportunity to go to Pubei to do a social practice survey. Before I got there, I had just done a bit of research and gotten general information through the Internet that said Pubei is a small county located in the south of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

When I arrived, the first thing that came into sight was a wide and deep river. Instead of loess and sand blown into the sky, clean streets were seen everywhere.

Then we visited the best school in this country where we conversed with its students, who were very sincere, friendly, active and positive. I could see their eyes twinkle when I communicated with them.

Their eyes were full of longing for the outside world and of hope for the future. What impressed me the most was that there were many students jumping up the stairs and skipping three or four stairs steps at once, and the staircase was high, but they were not frightened of falling off the stairs.

I also dared to have a try and follow them, but soon gave it up since the higher I went, the more frightened I became.

On the second day, we visited five families in poverty and needing financial assistance, through which I realized not everyone’s life is that easy.

Among those five families, there were two families in which the fathers passed away unexpectedly in car accidents, and they could not afford their daily expenses, which made their families even worse, while the other three families were suffering financial ruin and in debt because they borrowed a large amount of money from the bank in order to have their shabby houses repaired while losing their ability to repay the loan.

One second, life is a bed of roses; the next, it is all thorns, which made me feel that there are sometimes unexpected things that no one could have predicted, giving me more encouragement to work hard in my studies and to be prepared to strike for my future.

However, during the talk with the kids from the families, l felt a bit relieved, because they did not even mention much how poor their families are.

Instead, they turned this situation into an impetus for the hope of changing the living environment of their families by getting well educated through their own efforts.